book log: 57) Agatha Christie -- Three Radio Mysteries: volume 1 [audio book]

Three of Christie's short stories, adapted into half hour radio plays and updated to a modern (at the time of broadcast in 2002) setting. I found this volume rather disappointing, and thought that the adaptation of "Philomel Cottage" was very poor. I wasn't familiar with the stories, and wasn't sure what was supposed to have happened at the end of Philomel Cottage. Having looked up the story online, I found that my impression of what happened was quite different to the original text story. Having re-listened to the last few minutes, in case I'd simply misunderstood -- no, it still gave the impression of the ending having been re-written.

Magnolia Blossom has been updated, but I think has not been greatly changed, going by the plot summaries I've found online.

Swan Song has been significantly re-written, but in a way that preserves the basic point of the plot. I suspect that the modernisation is going to annoy a lot of readers, but for me it worked well.

In hindsight, I'd have probably enjoyed this CD set more if Philomel Cottage had been last rather than first of the three plays. It annoyed me so much that it rather put me off the other two. I'm in two minds as to whether the set would have worked better for someone who was already familiar with the stories - I think I would have got on better with Philomel Cottage had I already known the story, but that the alterations to Swan Song might have been irritating. Overall, I don't really regret spending the time to listen to this set, but I'm glad I only paid remainder price for it. and am disinclined to listen to it again.

http://www.librarything.com/work/8332809/

partial June book log:

Yes, finally catching up on the June book log. :-)

58) Agatha Christie -- Peril at End House [audio book]

Re-listen of this abridged audobook, which I've previously reviewed: http://www.librarything.com/review/52602568

59) Sam Starbuck -- Condition of Release

A reread of Sam's novel-length take on Cyberwoman, which I adore and reread every so often.

pre-order link for "And if I offered thee a bargain"

Excellent. :-) The page for my short story And if I offered thee a bargain" has gone live on the Musa Publishing website. Not sure when it went live, as I've been too busy with edits to keep poking the site. At the moment it's pre-orders only -- it's on sale from 7 September. I presume pre-ordering does actually work, because I can see on the internal royalties database that someone has done so.

I suppose this means I need to think of a competition to promote it. :^) Also, I need to dig out the colour printer and run off some bookmarks. Good thing it's a bank holiday weekend.

60) Linda Nagata -- Hepen The Watcher

Note: I received a review copy through LibraryThing Early Reviewers.

The demon Dismay/Smoke is in what turns out to be essentially self-imposed exile from his native country. He's viewed as evil by those in power in the land of his exile. That's because he answers the prayers of abused women desperate to escape misogynistic violence. There's no shortage of such women in Lutawa, a land where oppression of women is such a bedrock of the culture and law that it's a capital offence to teach a woman to read. That could be the basis of a dull political tract, but fear not -- it's a highly entertaining "overthrow the evil ruler" quest fantasy. It's also the sequel to an earlier book, but I found that it worked well enough as a standalone. Occasionally I was left wondering about some detail of the world that must have been given in the first book, but in general Nagata feeds in enough backstory over the course of the book that all is clear by the end.

The book's theme is fairly dark, and the text can be dark to the point of disturbing in places, but there's nothing gratuitous about the nastier bits. And it's well leavened by humour and character development. It won't be to everyone's taste, and the pacing does suffer slightly from it being a sequel, but I liked this one a lot.

http://www.librarything.com/work/12340912

RIP Neil Armstrong

Just seen the news reports that Neil Armstrong has died. Another little piece of living history has just slipped away.

It's 43 years since he first stepped out onto the lunar surface, one small step for a man. He was 82. There isn't that sense of regret there was a few weeks ago, when Sally Ride died far too young. But it's still another hero gone, another link broken.

He's gone, but his footprints will outlast all of us. Now there's a memorial for one man who represented all mankind.

61) Agatha Christie -- The Murder of Roger Ackroyd [audio book]

Abridged on three CDs, and read by Nigel Anthony. A famous Poirot story, but one I'd never read before. Beautifully pulled off, although I suspect it suffers a little from the abridgement. Even with the abridgement issues, I loved this. And that's all I'm going to say about it.

http://www.librarything.com/work/3011

book log 62) Dick Francis -- For Kicks

Danny Roke has made a success out of running a stud farm in Australia. He's devoted to the stud, because he's devoted to the younger siblings he's raised since their parents died, and the stud brings money and stability. What it doesn't bring is a sense that this is what he wants the rest of his life to be. When the Earl of October arrives one day and offers him enough money to keep the stud running without him, he's intrigued enough to take the job offered -- going undercover as a stablehand to investigate a suspected racehorse doping racket in English racing.

Danny knows going in that the job could be dangerous. Fatal, even. But he finds enough to convince him that there *is* a racket, and he's determined to get to the bottom of it, if only to prove to himself that he can do the job.

It's a wonderful piece of writing, with solid characterisation and a well-plotted mystery. Highly enjoyable way to spend a few hours.

http://www.librarything.com/work/42762